Born in 1962 in Gelida (Barcelona). Graduated in physics in 1985 at Universitat de Barcelona (UB). PhD in experimental high-energy physics in 1989 at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Postdoctoral stay at CERN, Geneva (Switzerland) from 1991 to 1996, mostly working on the ALEPH experiment at the LEP accelerator. "Professor Titular" at UB, 1997-2000. Moved to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley (USA) as a Career Staff Scientist in 2001, where started a transition towards observational cosmology. Since 2006, ICREA Research Professor at Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE). Associate Director of IFAE from 2008 to 2014. Director from 2015 to 2022. Working on the "Dark Energy Survey" (DES), "Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument" (DESI), and IFAE-led "Physics of the Accelerating Universe" (PAU) projects, trying to shed light into the nature of the "dark energy" that is causing the current acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.
Research interests
I am an experimental particle physicist trying to understand the ultimate building blocks of the Universe and their interactions, through both experiments involving particle accelerators and astronomical observations. Recently, my work has been mostly devoted to planning instruments and performing observations to try to unveil the nature of the so-called "dark-energy" component of the Universe, which accounts for about 70% of the matter-energy of the Universe, counters the attractive effect of gravity on all other forms of matter and energy, and drives the current accelerated expansion of the Universe.
Selected publications
- Abbott T.M.C. et al. (DES Collaboration) 2022, 'Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and weak lensing', Physical Review D, 105, 2, 023520.
- Gatti M, Giannini G et al. (DES Collaboration) 2022, 'Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Clustering redshifts - calibration of the weak lensing source redshift distributions with redMaGiC and BOSS/eBOSS', Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 510, 1, 1223 - 1247.
- Kovacs A et al. (DES Collaboration) 2022, 'Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Imprints of cosmic voids and superclusters in the Planck CMB lensing map', Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 515, 3, 4417 - 4429.
- Kovacs A et al. (DES Collaboration) 2022, 'The DES view of the Eridanus supervoid and the CMB cold spot', Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 510, 1, 216 - 229.
- Renard P et al. 2022, 'The PAU survey: measurements of the 4000 angstrom spectral break with narrow-band photometry', Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 515, 1, 146 - 166.
Selected research activities
- Adviser of the PhD thesis "Photometric redshift calibration in DES Y3", by Giulia Giannini (UAB, 23/09/2022). Grade: Excellent cum laude.
- Member of the Board of the High Energy and Particle Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS-HEPP).
- Spanish representative in the Management Committee of the "Dark Energy Survey" (DES) Collaboration.
- Chair of the DES Builders' Committee.
- Member of the DES Publication Board and the Advisory Board to the DES Director.
- Member of the Membership Committee of the "Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument" (DESI) Collaboration.